Hampton, an Easley native, was the United States' first female pilot to be killed in combat when she died in 2004.

"I have known about Kimberly — I did not know her, but I have known about her and her family for a long time, and I felt like we needed to honor this lost veteran this way," Duncan said.

Duncan said he came up with the idea while "sitting on the floor" one day. No one asked him to do it, but he did check with Hampton's family before doing it to ensure that they would be OK with it.

"They were very humbled," he said. "They were kind of caught off guard with me asking them that and seemed very thankful that I would take the opportunity to honor their daughter that way. They've worked hard to try to keep Kimberly's memory alive and also to educate folks on Kimberly's service."

Hampton has been locally memorialized with the Easley library named in her honor as well as a section of State 88. In 2014, Kimberly Hampton Primary School was dedicated at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, where Hampton was stationed before deployment.